Capsule closing apparatus



Septll. 1956 A. E. WHITECAR 7 2,752,181

CAPSULE CLOSING APPARATUS Filed July 6, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. ALTEN E. WHITECAR ATTORNEYS Sept. 11, 1956 A. E. WHITECAR 2,762,181

CAPSULE CLOSING APPARATUS Filed July 6, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v INVENTOR. ALTEN E. WHITECAR ATTORNEYS CAPSULE CLOSING APPARATUS Alten E. Whitecar, Wes'tville, N. J., assignor to Smith,

Kline & French Laboratories, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 6, 1953, Serial No. 366,188

3 Claims. (Cl. 53--299) This application relates to capsule closing apparatus and, more particularly, to apparatus for closing the cap of a capsule over the body of a capsule which contains loose grains or pellets of a medicament or other material In the filling of capsules, generally the body portions of a plurality of capsules are positioned in bores or recesses in a supporting member such as a plate with the upper edge of the body portion of each capsule approximately flush with the upper surface of the plate. Material to be filled into the body portions of the capsules is then spread across the plate and flows into the body portions of the capsules. Thereafter, a second plate retaining caps of the capsules is placed upon the plate containing the filled body portions with caps and body por tions in alignment with each other, and then means which is provided to push the body portions of the capsules into the caps of the capsules operates to close the capsales.

This closing operation is normally done in a position displaced from the filling operation and thus it is necessary to transport the plate bearing the plurality of'body portions from one location to another. When the material filled into the body portions of the capsules is a powder and, particularly, when the powder is an antibiotic or other type of medicament, the powder may have sufliciently poor flow characteristics to not only permit freedom of handling of the plate carrying the filled capsule body portions but also to permit standing the plate in a substantially vertical position without the powder becoming dislodged from the capsule body portions.

When, however, the material being filled into the'capsule is a fluid material such as, for example, small loose grains or pellets, it will be evident that the handling problemismade considerably more difficult in that the pellets willflow out of the filled capsule body portions whenever'thefilledbody portions or the plate containing the filledbody portions is inclined beyond a critical angle as determined. by the fluidity of the pellet.

It is: an object of this invention to provide closing apparatus by means of which a plate containing a plurality of 'capsulebody'portions filled with a fluid material such as small loose pellets and a second plate containing a cap for each of the capsule body portions are positioned in' alignment with each other in a position inclined from the vertical and are supported during a capsule closing operation-and during-a closed capsule ejecting operation as required'to prevent fluid material from becomin'g'displaced from the capsule. V p

This and other objects of the invention will become apparent'from' the following description when read conjunction with the accompanying drawings; inwhich:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the capsule closing appara- V HIS;

of the capsule closing apparatus showingthe capsule -retaining plates in position therein;

2,762,181 Patented Sept. 11, 1956 Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section through a portion of the capsule closing apparatus in a position of successive operation from that shown in Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure 5.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the apparatus includes a base plate 2 on which there is mounted a support bracket 4 which supports an inclined plate 6. The plate 6 is inclined approximately 30 from the horizontal and supports an air cylinder 8 which is mounted below the plate. The cylinder 3 contains a conventional piston, and a shaft 10 extending upwardly out of the cylinder 8 has its lower end connected to the piston. The upper end of the shaft 19 slidably enters an axial bore in a rod 11 which is attached to the center of a disc 12. The upper end of the shaft 16 is adapted to butt against the base of the bore in the rod 11. a

A plurality of pins 14 are mounted in the disc 12 and extend upwardly therefrom. A plurality of pins 16 are mounted in the inclined plate 6 and are adapted to pass through mating recesses in the periphery of disc 12. The pins 16' prevent rotation of the disc 12 but permit it to be moved upwardly with respect to the inclined plate 6 by operation of the air cylinder 8 as will be hereinafter more fully described. Additionally, a horseshoe-shaped guide 13 i's'afiixed to the disc 12 and travels on a pin 31. This guide prevents rotation of the disc when the disc is raised above the upper endsof the pins 16. v

A funnel-like collector 18 extends upwardly from the inclined plate 6 around the lower or right-hand. portion thereof, as viewed in Figure 1, andjoins a-chute 20 the lower end of which opens into a box or other suitable container 22. The collector 18, the chute 20 and the container 22 are provided to collect closed capsules being discharged from the apparatus as will be hereinafter described.

A shaft 24 extends through a bore in the upper or left-hand portion of the inclined plate 6, as viewed in Figure l, and through a spacer sleeve 26 mounted-on the plate 6. A cover plate 28 is attached to the-upperend of the shaft 24 and rests upon the upper end of the spacer sleeve 26. The shaft 24 is rotatable in the plate 6 and in the spacer sleeve 26 and has attached to its-lowerend a counter-weight 30. Thus the cover plate may be easily rotated from the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 toa position where it covers the pins 14 extending upwardly from the disc 12 as shown fragmentarily. in Figures 3 and 5.

When the cover plate 28 is in a closed position,-it engages the under surface of a stop member 31- which holds theplate in a closed position as willbe hereinafter described. A' pair of posts 32 and 32 extend upwardly from the inclined plate 6. The top of thepost 32' is iiush with the upper surface of the collector 18. The topof the post 32' extends above the top surface of the collector 18 and serves as a stop for the cover plate 28. The posts 32 and 32- are positioned with their left-hand edges, as viewed in Figure 1, extending inwardly of the edge 34 of the collector 18 and adjacent tothe outeri'riost pins 14 mounted on the disc 12.

Three support posts 40 are mounted on the inclined plate 6'and extend upwardly therefrom in positions spaced slightly away from the disc 12. The *support post's--40 mount on their upper surfaces a fiat arcuate cam plate or ring 42which is positioned between inner upwardly extending portions 44 of the support posts 40 and outer -upwardly extending portions 46 of the plates 47 which are bolted to the support posts 40 after-the cam ring 42 ishpositioned thereon and which serve to prevent the lift ing of the cam ring 42 from the support posts by virtue of the inwardly extending portions 48 of the portions 46 thereof.

A cam ring latch 59 is pivoted at its lower end at 52 to each of the support posts 40. The upper ends of the latches 58 are each provided with a lug 54 which is adapted to extend upwardly through a receiving cam slot 49 in the cam ring 42. The cam slots 49 in the cam ring 42 are eccentrically disposed so that rotation of the cam ring will cam the lugs 54 inwardly or outwardly and thus rotate the cam ring latches 58 inwardly or outwardly about their pivots 52. The cam ring latches 50 are also each provided with an inwardly extending portion 56 which is provided with a surface 58 of generally arcuate form drawn with a radius extending from the center of the pivotal connection 52. It will be evident from the foregoing that rotation of the cam ring 42 willcause the surfaces 58 of the cam ring latches 50 to be moved inwardly or outwardly with respect to the disc 12 and the pins 14 thereon.

Capsules to be closed are positioned in bores in retaining' plates shown at 68 and 62 in Figures 3 and 5. Re- ,taining plate 60 is provided with a plurality of bores each 'of which is adapted to receive a capsule body 64 which rests upon a shoulder 66 in its receiving bore and has its upper portion positioned approximately flush with the upper surface ofthe retaining plate 60. The capsule cap retaining plate 62 is provided with a plurality of bores each of which is adapted to support a capsule cap 68 which rests upon a shoulder 70 within its receiving bore. The bores in the retaining plates 68 and 62 are adapted to be in alignment with each other when aligning pins 72 in the retaining plate 62 are entered in the receiving bores 74 in the retaining plate 69. Furthermore, when the retaining plates are properly positioned above the pin disc 12, the pins 14 extending upwardly therefrom are each in alignment with a pair of aligning bores in the retaining plates 60 and 62.

The smaller diameter portion of the capsule body reizeiving bore in the retaining plate 69 is of suificient diameter to permit the passage of a pin 14 therethrough and the smaller diameter portion of the capsule cap retaining bore in the retaining plate 62 is of sufficient diameter to permit the passage of a capsule body. It will be evident that, if the pins 14 and the pin disc 12 are raised by the action of the air cylinder 8 in response to the admission of air through the lower inlet passage tube 9 thereto, the pins '14 will each serve to close a capsule if the cover plate 28 is in closed position as shown in Figure 3 and the: plate 62 is sufiiciently close to the plate 28 that the capsules cannot be pushed out of the bores in the plate 62. Y

- After capsule body portions have been inserted into the retaining plate 60 and filled with pellets or other fluid material and, preferably, while the plate 60 is in a horizontal position, the plate 62 containing the capsule caps "will be inverted ther'eover and positioned in alignment thereon by the entry of the pins 72 into the bores 74. -With the two plates thus aligned and in engagement with each other, the aligning capsule parts therein are prepared for closure. The aligned plates 60 and 62 are then positioned on the apparatus shown in Figure 1 and are supported therein by the surfaces 58 of the latches 50 shown in Figure 3.

The apparatus as disclosed herein is shown with the 7 capsule rings as being at an angle approximately 30 from the horizontal. With this degree of angle, the lower edges of the rings 60 and 62 are in engagement with and supported by the posts 32 as well as by the surfaces 58. It has been found that placing the apparatus on approxivmately a 30 incline does not induce spillage of small pellets of material out of the capsules and facilitates the handling of the rings by an operator. Thus, while the apparatus is shown in an inclined position,

equally well be in a horizontal position except for the fact -that it is somewhat more diflicult for an operator to mait could ever,

nipulate the apparatus when it is in a horizontal pos tion and closed capsules are less satisfactorily discharged as will be described.

The apparatus is shown in Figure 3 with the parts thereof in position such as occurs immediately before the initial capsule closing operation. In this position the capsule retaining plates 60 and 62 are closed against each other and'the plate v6t} rests upon the surfaces 58 of the cam ring latches 50 and against the posts 32 not shown in Figure 3. With the retaining plates in this position and with the cover plate 28 in a closed position and secure under its latch 31, air admitted to the cylinder 8 through the inlet tube 9 causes the piston therein to rise moving the piston shaft 16 upwardly forcing thepins 14 into aligning bores in the plate 69 and thus forcing the capsule bodies into their associated capsule caps. The caps are retained in the cap retaining plate 62 by the cover plate 28 which is positioned immediately thereabove. The air pressure and piston diameter are selected to provide a closing force sufficient to insure closure of the capsules without causing any damage thereto. The control of the flow of air to the cylinder 8 by the operator is entirely conventional and need not be described in detail herein.

After the capsules have been thus closed, the operator of the apparatus will grasp the cam ring 42 around the periphery thereof which is exposed below the cover plate 28 and rotate the cam ring thus drawing the cam ring latches 50 outwardly from under the retaining plate 60. When the cam ring latches have moved out from below the retaining plate 60, the retaining plates 60 and 62 are permitted to drop downwardly with the pins 14 passing upwardly through the bores therein until the lowerretaining plate 60 comes to rest upon the upper ends of the posts 16. When the retaining plates are in this position, the upper ends ofthe pins 14 will be approximately flush or slightly below the upper surface of the retaining plate 62 and thus all of the closed capsules will have been ejected from the retaining plate 62. The ejected capsules roll down over the retaining plate 62, are collected by the collector 18 and pass downwardly through the chuter20 into-the container 22.

As previously noted, when a powder or relatively nonfluid material is contained within the capsules, the capsule closing apparatus may be conveniently positioned in such a manner that the retaining plates are in a vertical position when the capsules are being closed and, when the a fluid material such as small loose capsules are filled with pellets, it becomes necessary to maintain the retaining plates in a sufiiciently flat and horizontal position to prevent spillage of the fluid material. This problem is critical even after the body retaining plate and thecapsule retaining plate are placed together in that small clearances-existing between these plates are sufiicient to receive small particles and, of course, as soon as particles .some restraining or supporting means, such as the surfaces 58 of the cam ring latches, are .provided. Howafterthe' capsules havebeen closed, as described above, it is necessary that these supporting surfaces 58 be removed from below the retaining plate 60 to permit the retaining plates to drop downwardly over thepins 14 and away from the cover plate 28 to permit ejection of the closed capsules from the retaining platesa This dropping down and the subsequent ejection is accomplished conveniently and expeditiously by rotation of the cam ring which serves to operate the cam ring latches aspreviously describedl It is desirable that the retaining plates be positioned at a slight angle both for the convenience of the operator in handling the capsule retaining rings and in order that the ejected capsules Will roll oil? the retaining plate 62 immediately upon ejection, thus avoiding the necessity for the operator to perform a manual removing operation in order to clear the upper surface of the retaining plate 62 of ejected capsules. The drawings show the apparatus positioned with the retaining plates 60 and 62 at an angle of approximately 30 from the horizontal. It has been found that this angle will not cause small loose pellets contained within the capsules to spill out of the capsule bodies contained Within the retaining plates 60 and yet is sufiicient to permit the closed capsules to roll down over the upper surface of the retaining plate 62 after they have been ejected therefrom. The 30 may, of course, be varied depending upon the degree of fluidity of the material in the capsules.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that the apparatus provides for the closing of capsules containing fluid materials such as loose pellets and, while providing a rapid and automatic closing operation, avoids the possibility of the pellets spilling from the capsules during the manipulation phases of the closing operation while simultaneously permitting the capsules to discharge themselves from the surface of the upper retaining plate after having been ejected from the retaining plates following their closing.

What is claimed is:

1. A capsule closing apparatus comprising a capsule body retaining plate, a capsule cap retaining plate, means for positioning said plates with capsule bodies retained therein in alignment with capsule caps retained therein, means including a plurality of pins for pushing capsule bodies from said capsule body retaining plate into engagement with aligning capsule caps in said capsule cap retaining plate, cover means over said pushing means, means for supporting said retaining plates in a position inclined from the vertical above the upper ends of said plurality of pins and below said cover means, means for moving said capsule pushing pins into engagement with the capsule bodies for closing capsules, said cover means retaining said capsules in said cap retaining plate during capsule closing, and means for releasing said retaining plates supporting means permitting downward motion of said retaining plates with respect to said capsule pushing means and said cover means thereby causing said plurality of pins to eject the capsules from said capsule cap retaining plate.

2. A capsule closing apparatus comprising a capsule body retaining plate, a capsule cap retaining plate, means for positioning said plates with capsule bodies retained therein in alignment with capsule caps retained therein, means including a plurality of pins for pushing capsule bodies from said capsule body retaining plate into engagernent with aligning capsule caps in said capsule cap retaining plate, cover means over said pushing means, means for supporting said retaining plates in a position inclined from the vertical above the upper ends of said plurality of pins and below said cover means, means for moving said capsule pushing pins into engagement with the capsule bodies for closing capsules, said cover means retaining said capsules in said cap retaining plate during capsule closing, means for releasing said retaining plates supporting means permitting downward motion of said retaining plates with respect to said capsule pushing means and said cover means thereby causing said plurality of pins to eject the capsules from said capsule cap retaining plate, said releasing means including a camrning means actuated by rotary movement of a member positioned adjacent to said supporting means for moving said supporting means outwardly with respect to said retaining plates.

3. A capsule closing apparatus comprising a capsule body retaining plate, a capsule cap retaining plate, means for positioning said plates with capsule bodies retained therein in alignment with capsule caps retained therein, means including a plurality of pins for pushing capsule bodies from said capsule body retaining plate into engagement with aligning capsule caps in said capsule cap retaining plate, cover means over said pushing means, means for supporting said retaining plates in a position inclined from the vertical above the upper ends of said plurality of pins and below said cover means, means for moving said capsule pushing pins into engagement with the capsule bodies for closing capsules, said cover means retaining said capsules in said cap retaining plate during capsule closing, means for releasing said retaining plates supporting means permitting downward motion of said retaining plates with respect to said capsule pushing means and said cover means thereby causing said plurality of pins to eject the capsules from said capsule cap retaining plate, and means limiting the downward motion of said retaining plates after they are released by said supporting means to a position at which the upper ends of said plurality of pins are approximately flush with the upper surface of said cap retaining plate thereby providing a smooth surface for the passage of ejected capsules.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 326,578 Merz Sept. 22, 1885 336,177 Tucker Feb. 16, 1886 422,365 Bateson Mar. 4, 1890 803,145 Winchester Oct. 31, 1905 1,819,936 Wilkie et al. Aug. 18, 1931 2,322,169 Smith June 15, 1943 2,412,637 Smith Dec. 17, 1946 2,617,137 Bodnar Nov. 11, 1952 

